A user profile may enable a user to have a consistent desktop experience each time the user logs onto a computer. For example, a user profile may enable the desktop appearance to stay the same between sessions and may record user preferences for applications and operating system services. A user profile may be a profile specific to a particular computer or may be a roaming profile accessible by a user on multiple computers. In both situations, users typically expect to have a consistent desktop experience each time they log onto a computer using their profile.
Unfortunately, when a user configures a roaming profile on one computer, the profile may include shortcuts to resources that are not available on a different computer that the user may access using the same roaming profile. In traditional systems, when a user logs onto a machine that is missing a resource (e.g., an application) referenced by a shortcut in the user's profile, the user will still see the shortcut. The user may not realize that the application (or other resource) is not installed on the computer and may click on the shortcut to access the application, but the shortcut will not work. Such situations may leave the user confused and frustrated.
The recent trend toward virtualization has further complicated the issue of providing a user with a consistent, reliable experience when using roaming and local profiles. For example, virtualized applications may be easily enabled and disabled on a computing system. If a user's profile includes a shortcut to a virtualized application that is disabled, the shortcut will not work. The user may not realize that the application is not enabled, and as with the example above, may be frustrated. In such situations, users may waste valuable work time and may also tie-up help desk and service technician resources trying to resolve the perceived problem without realizing that the computer they are trying to fix simply is not configured to provide the resource they are attempting to use. What is needed, therefore, is a more efficient and effective mechanism for providing consistent user experiences with roaming and local profiles.